Horseback Riding in Pululahua

This weekend I decided to do a horseback riding tour with my friends. About one and a half hours away from Quito, in the middle of the Pululahua Volcano’s crater, a wonderful horse ranch is located. It offers fabulous horseback riding tours from one to eight days.

At nine o’clock in the morning we met with our driver in the Mariscal in Quito. The car ride to the ranch is already a real adventure since there are no paved roads in the Pululahua crater. At the ranch we were warmly received and we could decide which horses we liked to go horseback riding with.

Flowers in pululahua

We started our tour with a long ride downhill and exited the crater Pululahua. As opposed to other craters like the Quilotoa the Pululahua is not completely closed. That is why it does not have any crater lake and it is possible to live inside the crater. Outside the crater the vegetation rapidly changes: Because of the lower altitude it is possible to grow bananas, avocados, pineapples and tree tomatoes. Furthermore, due to the humidity, you can spot the first parts of the cloud forest and its typical vegetation. Due to the clouds the trees there are able to absorb humidity via their leaves. The fine hairs on the leaves’ surfaces make the trees shine in a white color – impressive.

Passing banana trees and grazing donkeys, we finally arrived at our place for lunch. At this beautiful spot we had a breathtaking view of the indigenous Quito Cara’s pyramids and enjoyed our sandwiches and Grenadilla fruits for lunch. Above us vultures were gliding and enjoying the thermal lifts.

On our way back we got up the 1,312 ft. again and arrived tired at the ranch. The variable nature and landscape of the Pululahua reserve is very impressive and highly recommendable for everyone who loves to discover nature and local culture.